Apart from RBI governor, deputy governors and the two government nominees, the central board currently has industrialists such as Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran and Sun Pharma MD Dilip Sanghvi on its board, with economist Ashok Gulati providing inputs on the agricultre sector. TNN | August 09, 2018, 17:21 IST

NEW DELHI: Appointment of Swadeshi ideologue S Gurumurthy and Sahakar Bharti founding member Satish Marathe on the Reserve Bank of India board is part of a plan to give voice to the small and medium enterprises and the cooperative sector whose interests are often ignored, government sources said a day after their nomination was cleared by the appointments committee of cabinet.

Apart from RBI governor, deputy governors and the two government nominees, the central board currently has industrialists such as Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran and Sun Pharma MD Dilip Sanghvi on its board, with economist Ashok Gulati providing inputs on the agricultre sector. Plus there are two retired bureaucrats, Sudhir Mankad and PK Mohanty.

“Some of the economists who have been nominated in the past have been co-opted and end up giving the same view. At least there will be a different view on issues,” a source said.

The Gurumurthy, chartered accountant by training, has been associated with the Swadeshi Jagran Manch. He has been a journalist and essayist, writing on themes ranging from Hindutva, banking and finance.

Marathe had worked with Bank of India and later became the chairman of United Western Bank, which was merged with IDBI Bank. He also worked as the CEO of Janakalyan Sahakari Bank, apart from serving on boards of several cooperative banks.